Presentation graphics software has evolved to the stage where even a computer novice can create an effective and artistic presentation in a few hours. These programs offer an extensive lineup of charts, tables, text effects, colors, clip art, graphics, and slide transition effects. The presentations they help you to produce can be printed, converted to 35mm slides and overhead transparencies, are run directly from a PC.

A quick ramp-up time is essential to the success of any presentation product, as the typical person who uses such software is usually a first-time buyer looking to perform an overnight miracle. Even those who are familiar with such packages often use them infrequently: Unlike your word processor or spreadsheet, presentation software is not something you use every day, so getting up to speed quickly is to success. Consequently, these programs are designed to be straightforward and inviting. They offer outlines and templates, consistent background opinions for charts and graphs, and thumbnail views of your presentation. Tutorials and advisers supply detailed information about each … Read the rest

What is success? And how will you know if you are there? That’s more than a philosophical question–it’s one we entrepreneurial types grapple with regularly. Sometimes we struggle emotionally, as when we worry that the energy used building our businesses would have been better spent hunting for a real job. More often, our questions are practical: Am I making enough to justify hiring an assistant? Will my business qualify for a bank loan? Can I afford a new laptop? Am I on track here?

What do these professional athletes have in common–football and baseball players, tennis stars, Olympic gymnasts, marathon runners, just to name a few? All have used the expertise of sports nutritionists to enhance their competitive edge. You too can take advantage of the same techniques to improve your performance, whether it’s in a highly competitive team sport or an activity you enjoy just for fun and exercise.

Start with a healthy eating plan based on the Food Guide Pyramid. The physical demands of routine training mean you need plenty of nutritious foods for energy and to supply the protein, vitamins, and minerals needed for optimal performance. Olympic athletes can burn as many as 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day during training. The average daily intake for 13- to 1 8-year-olds is 2,200 to 2,500 calories. If you’re active in sports, you may need an additional 500 to 1,500 calories a day. Your extra calories, just like those for adult athletes, should also come from healthful foods.

Anti snoring pillows are a great way to minimize snoring and create good sleeping patterns. When you buy the best pillow for snoring, it is definitely important to choose the best manufacturer offering the right price. This means that you have to consider the quality and price first and foremost. Do not be easily enticed into something that you are not sure of. Always take time to research the best pillow for snoring and check its quality meticulously. These pillows often provide relief for snoring but the materials used often vary. Make sure that you make comparisons between these pillows so that your money will never be a waste.

Consider also the comfort that it can give because at the end of the day, you will be sleeping over this kind of pillow. If it can hurt your neck, it is certainly not a good pillow to try. There are a lot of reviews for these snoreless pillows. As much as possible, take time to read these reviews so that you can have an idea on where to buy the pillow and how to buy it at a limited budget. Despite the differences, the best pillow for snoring can be obtained if you research carefully.

The Benefits Of Good Morning Snore Solution Mouthpiece Review

One of the best ways to buy an anti-snoring mouthpiece is to read the reviews. Taking into consideration the opinions of other individuals can be a lot of help to weigh the pros and cons of the device. Basically, the Good Morning Snore Solution promises to alleviate snoring when sleeping as they have a clinical study to support it. In fact, many snoring experts consider it to be one of the best anti-snoring mouthpieces available on the market these days (a good example is here). Thus, reading a review of the Good Morning Snore Solution can definitely be helpful. It will let you know the side of the customers who have tried the product as well as the disadvantages of having it while sleeping. Although the Read the rest of this entry »

Time traps, you know them. I can’t take the time to install memory because I have so much to do that five minutes out the window will break me right now. And who knows? If I don’t finish project A today and get started on project B, I won’t finish it tomorrow, and I’ll spend all weekend trying to sort out the mess.

While your brain races forward, you can hear this little voice in the back of your head, the voice of reason that is always so faint, telling you that five minutes now is nothing more than a trip the refrigerator, but it will be worth lions over the next year. Invest now! Enjoy a yearlong payback.

The time trap–once you’re in, you’re in deep, and it’s hard to get out. Let me, if I may, play the little man, the voice of reason, and speak those quiet truths we all know but all too often ignore in the heat of battle. Even escaping the trap for one … Read the rest

By 10:39 a.m., Roger Lazier had reached the [email protected]#$%OH! point of his to-do-today list at his Arlington, Texas, home office. Too much for one regional sales manager to do, too many simultaneous follow-ups, too many lucrative opportunities he’d worked too hard to obtain.

The most pressing problem was an upcoming on-site demonstration at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Department of Energy’s development-and-testing complex. Big opportunity. Big need.to convince the 125 Sandia design engineers that they should come see his computer-assisted-design (CAD) software. And big communication problem. Two CAD software competitors were also scheduled–before him. And both had already sent invitational/informational letters to the same 125 design engineers.

Now it was Lazier’s turn to write an invitation, except he couldn’t seem to turn a phrase. He needed to get the design engineers’ attention as well as their attendance. He needed an announcement with features that translated to benefits. He needed something to stand out.

You’d the subject of losing night’s sleep would merit one word: yawn! After all, you don’t need anyone to tell you how lousy you feel the day after you’ve been kept awake by a sick child, the rush to meet a deadline, or anxiety about an upcoming event.

Yet the topic turns out to be the subject of hot research. Organizations including the U.S. Army, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Department of Transportation have a serious interest in what effects even a few lost hours of sleep have on soldiers, astronauts, airline pilots, truck drivers, doctors, and shift workers. Happily, their studies have done more than just catalog the ill effects of sleep deprivation; they’ve also yielded scientifically sound strategies for overcoming them–no matter what your occupation or reason for being bleary-eyed.

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First, relax

Worrying about how little shut-eye you got will only make you feel more stressed. Even if your day’s plans include a road race or tennis match, sleepiness should have little … Read the rest

When we last interviewed Mackay four years ago, the economy was still growing, home offices were starting to come into their own, and he was finishing his second book.

Since then, the economy has fallen on its face, the number of home offices has grown explosively, and Mackay has completed his third book, Sharkproof. These are not isolated events. As Mackay puts it, “While the Fortune 500 companies were losing 4.1 million jobs in the ’80s, small businesses created 1.5 million jobs in the last two years alone. It’s what saved this country.”

While Sharkproof is primarily about getting and keeping a job in today’s sluggish economy, Mackay has plenty of advice for those who want to create their own jobs by starting their own businesses (also see accompanying excerpt from Sharkproof).

No matter what Harvey Mackay has done, from being an envelope salesman to owning an envelope manufacturing company to writing best-selling books, he has always relied on one principle: Do your homework. As a salesman, he located prospective … Read the rest

Jim grew up in the South. His dad was a coach, so he grew up with baseball, football, and basketball experiences. In high school, he developed a long-distance running habit as well. He did lots of sports–all of which seemed to depend upon sunshine, warm temperature, and generally good weather.

Because of his experience and particular sports orientation, Jim also developed a genuine dislike for winter. This was fine until Jim’s family moved to the Midwest.
Winter Wonders

To his surprise, Jim found the seasonal changes interesting and made a promise to himself to develop a winter sports interest.

After considering a myriad of possibilities, Jim recognized that three winter sports stood out in terms of popularity. They were ice hockey, ice skating, and cross-country skiing. So he decided to analyze each one with respect to its physical fitness demands and benefits, its psychological rewards, and its practical characteristics.

Looking at Fitness Demands

In terms of physical fitness, Jim found that ice hockey and cross-country skiing were more demanding than … Read the rest

When I choose a bank, I look small institution–a community bank or a credit union. They typically charge less for loans than large institutions do, pay more interest on savings, and set lower minimum deposits on checking accounts. You get to know the people who work there, which helps a lot when you have a problem, need a loan, or think a particular tee should be waived. If a small bank isn’t available, look for a small branch of a larger bank.

Opening an Account

Don’t wander into a bank like a tourist. Pick up brochures in advance, read them, and then make an appointment to see a banker. At the meeting, explain how much money will flow through your accounts, what services you’ll want, and the kinds of loans you’ll be looking for (bankers love to hear about loans because that’s where they really make their money). Ask what interest rates the bank currently charges for various loans. Get a printed schedule of … Read the rest